He also inaugurated a Road Safety Project in the State during the event. Under the highways project, over 3 thousand crore rupees will be spent for development of 316 Kilometres roads in the State. Union DoNER Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union MoS of Road Transport and Highways Gen (Retd) VK Singh, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, his cabinet colleague, MPs and senior officers of both centre and state government were also attended in the function.
Speaking in the virtual function, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Prime Minister has instructed to take up development projects in the NE region. Apart from today’s project, more projects will be taken up in Manipur in future. Four lane roads from Kohima to Imphal will be taken up with the estimated cost of Rs. 2663 crore very soon. Moreover, other road projects will be taken up in the State for better connectivity to improve the social-economy condition of the people.
Expressing concern about the slow progress on land requisition of road project in Manipur, Union Minister requested the Chief Minister of Manipur to expedite the process on land requisition which have become major hurdles in implementing road projects in Manipur from past many years. If this hurdle is solved timely, all the projects could be finished at the given time. He also instructed the Chief Minister to timely submit the Utilization Certificate for every project to the Ministry for timely sanction of the fund.
He also said that the State government of NE region should explore alternative fuels of petrol and diesel to make the environment free from pollution. The Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ready to extend any kind of help to the NE States for better future.
Under the new highways project, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited and Manipur State Public Works Department will carry out development of roads in the State. It will include four laning of some sections of Imphal to Moreh road which is the major road, connecting to South East Asian Countries.